MLB rumors: Juan Soto’s market narrows with serious contenders in the hunt, Braves seek outfield help

With each passing day, Major League Baseball’s offseason draws ever closer to the winter meetings, scheduled to take place from Dec. 9-12 in Dallas, Texas. While the meetings tend to contain a lot of action, there tends to be an uptick in activity heading into the holiday, with players, agents and teams wanting to finish business before taking a few days to themselves. With that in mind, here are the best of Monday’s rumors.

Soto market down to four teams

Four teams are seriously in the mix for outfielder Juan Soto, the top free agent on the market, according to USA Today. Those four clubs are the New York Mets and Yankees, as well as the Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox.

The Mets have long been considered the favorites to land Soto on account of owner Steve Cohen’s willingness to spend the most money. The Yankees are the incumbents, however, which may or may not mean anything given Soto spent only a season there.

As for the Red Sox, we here at CBS Sports argued last week that they should be one of the winter’s most aggressive teams.

Braves pursuing outfield help

The Braves are on the prowl for an outfielder, with a preference for a lefty hitter, according to The Athletic.

As it stands, the Braves’ projected lineup contains just four players who bat left on either a part- or full-time basis: second baseman Ozzie Albies, first baseman Matt Olson, and outfielders Michael Harris and Jarred Kelenic. The Braves did recently ink lefty-hitting outfielder Carlos D. Rodriguez to a big-league deal, but he’s expected to serve as organizational depth rather than as a serious most-days option.

Some of the most interesting downmarket outfield options include Jason Heyward, Max Kepler, and Michael Tauchman, who was non-tendered last week by the Cubs.